HWT Christmas Gift Guide

If you need a last minute gift the Amazon gift certificate is a great idea. You have have it delivered by email so you can order it even on the night of the 24th and it will be there for them on Christmas morning.

Just click the banner.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

Only 10 days left till Christmas, but there is still time to order online and have it delivered before the Day.

If you are a fan of military science fiction or have one on your Christmas list Semper Mars: Book One of the Heritage Trilogy , by Ian Douglas would make an excellent stocking stuffer.

This is the first book in a series in which the seventh book is due to be released early next year. It follows the members of the Garroway family as they establish and follow a multi generation tradition of service in the USMC.

From the discovery of the remains of an incredibly advanced alien civilization on Mars which triggers a world war as the United States must fight the United Nations in order to establish that the America people retain the right to determine their own fate to their encounter with an ancient alien race called The Hunters of the Dawn (which almost ends the human race) the Marines kick ass, take names and keep the human race alive and thriving in a dangerous future.

The link above will lead you to the other books in the series as well as to other works of military SF by authors such as David Weber, John Ringo and Jack Campbell.

If you have someone in the service stationed overseas in Iraq or Afghanistan books are an excellent present. They are durable (if you have to hit the deck a paperback will hold up better than an iPod if you land on it) and inexpensive. They can be shared with friends and can be left behind for the next guys to arrive in country. This allows your gift to keep giving for months or even years to come.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

Is there a lady on your Christmas gift list? One word (other than jewelry) and that is chocolate, specifically Godiva chocolate. This is received by the typical woman in the same way that fine scotch or bourbon is by the typical man.

Godiva Chocolate: 19 pc. Nut & Caramel Assortment Gift Box with Christmas Ribbon & Trim

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

When I first started seeing people snapping pictures with small digital cameras I was skeptical. How good could those pictures be anyway? What I had seen of the pictures they took did not overly impress me. But that was back in the days when the cameras were in the neighborhood of 1 megapixel.

Then I saw a friend's 5.0 megapixel camera and was very impressed with the quality of the photographs it took. Not only did they look great but they didn't need to be developed and they could be uploaded directly to the 'net. AND you didn't need to buy film.

I bought a 5.1 megapixel camera and never looked back. I like my Cannon .35 MM. I like handling film and I like all the things you can do with a quality SLR. But I find myself using it less and less as the sheer convience of the digital becomes addictive.

Now cameras that have better picture quality are coming on the market and are becoming affordable. Like this one:

Olympus Stylus 740 7.1MP Digital Camera with Digital Image Stabilized 5x Optical Zoom

This has an MSRP of $349.95 but Amazon.com has them for $257.87.

If this is too rich for your blood then consider this:

Canon PowerShot A550 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom

This has an MSRP of $249.99 but Amazon.com has them for $131.00. 7.1 megapixel produces a very good picture. My camera is a 5.1 and regular readers of this blog have seen dozens of pictures taken with it.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

The first true lesson I had in what the political left was at its heart came when I read The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956 .


To see what happened when ruthless men attempted to carry out the Utopian fantasy of collectivism by any means necessary started me on the road to becoming a political conservative and stoked the first fires of the hatred which still burns in me today for the Left in this nation and wherever else it is to be found.

I read Solzhenitsyn's account of what it was to live in the worker's paradise of the Soviet Union as a young man nearly 20 years before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the USSR. At that time the arch-fool Jimmy Carter was in the White House, our intelligence services had been gutted and the morale of our shrinking military was at its lowest point in the 20th century.

At that time I feared that the communists might well be on the winning side of history. Not because they were right but because the West was simply too stupid to stand up to them.

Then Ronald Reagan came and it seemed that the nation was reborn. Within just a little more than 10 years of his last day in office the Soviet Union was no more and the captive nations of Eastern Europe were casting off their chains and beginning to breath free.

Now that nearly 20 years has passed and there is a new generation of adults and near adults who have no adult memories of the Cold War it is essential that the Left not be allowed to rewrite history. Books like The Gulag Archipelago and Robert Conquest's books The Great Terror, about the Stalin era purges, and The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine about the deliberate starving to death of over 10 million people in Ukraine as an instrument of Soviet government policy must be read and reread in the same way that the Holocaust must continue to be studied.

These books are not light reading but they are necessary reading. Any person of high school age and up who is of normal reading ability and intelligence would benefit from any or all of these books.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

The best science fiction series that you've never seen was FOX's Emmy award winning Firefly. Premiering in 2002 it failed to find an audience, owing in no small part to the fact that the network chose to air the episodes out of order dumping viewers into an unfolding story without necessary background information. The series was canceled after showing only 11 of the 14 episodes which were filmed.

Strong sales of the DVD box set and a determined campaign by the shows fans convinced Universal to make a movie for theatrical release based on the series which starred the original actors. Series creator Joss Whedon wrote and directed the movie in which he told the end of the story that he had been planning to develop over the five years which he had hoped the series was going to air.

The movie, called Serenity, was voted the best science fiction movie of all time by the readers of SFX Magazine.

The premise of the series can best be described as The Outlaw Josey Wales in space. A pair of soldiers who were on the losing side in an interplanetary civil war purchase an old cargo spaceship, assemble a crew and proceed to take any job they can get legal or illegal. Along the way they pick up a brother and sister who are running from the evil Alliance government (the winner of the civil war).

For fans of science fiction a DVD box set of the 14 series episodes along with the collectors edition DVD of the movie would make an excellent stocking stuffer.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide and Tonight's Music

It is December so we will be featuring as much Christmas music as I can find that meets my high standards. Among the best is that offered by Trans-Siberian Orchestra:




This is their video for one of their best known tunes Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24.

This video is on the DVD which is included in The Christmas Trilogy (3CD/DVD) [BOX SET] .



Product Description: Hard rock producer Paul O'Neill, renowned for his work with Aerosmith and Savatage, teamed with the latter band's Jon Oliva to create Trans-Siberian Orchestra, an inspired fusion of classical music and rock-opera pageantry. Their first two releases are visionary and timeless Christmas-themed concept albums, spotlighting lead guitars and classical string sections alike, and they became instant contemporary holiday classics. 2004's The Lost Christmas Eve, which completes their symphonic rock Yuletide triology, underscores Billboard's recent comment that TSO "seems to be turning into a Christmas tradition."

HBW Christmas Gift Guide

Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies

Accused of creating a bogus Red Scare and smearing countless innocent victims in a five-year reign of terror, Senator Joseph McCarthy is universally remembered as a demagogue, a bully, and a liar. History has judged him such a loathsome figure that even today, a half century after his death, his name remains synonymous with witch hunts.

But that conventional image is all wrong, as veteran journalist and author M. Stanton Evans reveals in this groundbreaking book. The long-awaited Blacklisted by History, based on six years of intensive research, dismantles the myths surrounding Joe McCarthy and his campaign to unmask Communists, Soviet agents, and flagrant loyalty risks working within the U.S. government. Evans’s revelations completely overturn our understanding of McCarthy, McCarthyism, and the Cold War.

Drawing on primary sources—including never-before-published government records and FBI files, as well as recent research gleaned from Soviet archives and intercepted transmissions between Moscow spymasters and their agents in the United States—Evans presents irrefutable evidence of a relentless Communist drive to penetrate our government, influence its policies, and steal its secrets. Most shocking of all, he shows that U.S. officials supposedly guarding against this danger not only let it happen but actively covered up the penetration. All of this was precisely as Joe McCarthy contended.

Blacklisted by History shows, for instance, that the FBI knew as early as 1942 that J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the atomic bomb project, had been identified by Communist leaders as a party member; that high-level U.S. officials were warned that Alger Hiss was a Soviet spy almost a decade before the Hiss case became a public scandal; that a cabal of White House, Justice Department, and State Department officials lied about and covered up the Amerasia spy case; and that the State Department had been heavily penetrated by Communists and Soviet agents before McCarthy came on the scene.

Evans also shows that practically everything we’ve been told about McCarthy is false, including conventional treatment of the famous 1950 speech at Wheeling, West Virginia, that launched the McCarthy era (“I have here in my hand . . .”), the Senate hearings that casually dismissed his charges, the matter of leading McCarthy suspect Owen Lattimore, the Annie Lee Moss case, the Army-McCarthy hearings, and much more.

In the end, Senator McCarthy was censured by his colleagues and condemned by the press and historians. But as Evans writes, “The real Joe McCarthy has vanished into the mists of fable and recycled error, so that it takes the equivalent of a dragnet search to find him.” Blacklisted by History provides the first accurate account of what McCarthy did and, more broadly, what happened to America during the Cold War. It is a revealing exposé of the forces that distorted our national policy in that conflict and our understanding of its history since.

As a person of the right I love finding out that some cherished belief of the left is actually a lie constructed of tissue paper. I have seen indications that the commonly accepted view of McCarthy was wrong. The beautiful and intelligent Ann Coulter admires him, but leftists dismiss her as a right-wing bomb thrower (she is but they're truth bombs).

Jack Kennedy once walked out of a lecture when McCarthy was being trashed because he regarded McCarthy as a friend and a leader in the important work of opposing communism.

All of this is tied together by M. Stanton Evans in this wonderful book. I recomend it highly to anyone who wishes to learn about the real history of the Cold War.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

Guys, want to get the perfect Christmas gift for the woman you love? Think diamonds. The average woman will react to diamonds the way you react to power tools.


I know this is hard to understand, but it's true!




Round Diamond Stud Earrings

These will make your lady happy.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

Women, you have a husband or boyfriend and you need to get him something for Christmas? I have two words for you: Power Tools.


Power tools will warm his heart the way expensive jewelry warms yours.




DeWalt DC759KA Heavy-Duty 18-Volt Ni-Cad 1/2-Inch Cordless Drill/Driver Kit

You need power, but you don’t want to hoist a ton. Here’s the answer. DeWalt’s revamped 18-volt compact drill/driver delivers on both counts, with a 1/2-inch chuck that grips beefy bits, an 18-position adjustable clutch, and a high-performance motor for the torque you need, packaged in a truly lightweight, comfortable drill. The variable speed has a high and low range for any application, and the reverse switch is right above the curved trigger for easy access. The included charger juices up a spent battery in an hour. We especially like the light weight, even more so because it doesn’t cost in the power department. Lots of pluses: on-board bit storage, two batteries, hard case. We think contractors will be pleased with this drill, especially after a long day.--Kris Jensen-Van Heste

Product Description: Max. Torque (in.-lbs.): 450, Volts: 18, Speed - No Load (RPM): 0-450/0-1,500, Chuck Size (in.): 1/2, Keyless Chuck: Yes, Clutch Settings: 17, Reversible: Yes, Variable Speed: Yes, Side Handle: No, Battery Included: Yes, (2) 18V batteries, Charger Included: Yes, 1-hr. charger, Case Included: Yes, Tool Weight (lbs.): 5.2


DeWalt makes fine tools, the kind a man is proud to own. As an added bonus if you get him stuff like this he will do home repair/improvement projects.

The MSRP on this cordless drill/driver is $379.13. Amazon.com has it for $179.00.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

If you or someone on your Christmas list has to be on the road a lot a portable GPS navigation aid could be just what the doctor ordered. In fact one doesn't have to be on the road a good deal to benefit from such a device. All that is really necessary is that one be a terrible navigator. Like a friend of mine who lives in the Northeast. He is a really good driver, but he could aim for New York City (you can see the Manhattan skyline from his office in Newark) and wind up in Baton Rouge.

TomTom ONE 3rd Edition Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator

Product Description: The latest version of the popular TomTom One GPS navigation unit includes an improved user interface with new options for customizing the navigation screen and more information with easier access to other functions. The MapShare feature allows you to edit maps instantly on your device and report map errors easily using your device with TomTom HOME. The 'Help Me!' Main menu option allows the user to navigate to and find information on assistance (hospitals, gas stations, etc.) Available as an optional accessory (not included), is the RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver as a Plug and go traffic solution with traffic incident data available in 68 markets.

Just so that everyone is clear on this I have no need of such as I am The Master of Land Navigation ™.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

If you or someone on your Christmas list is interested in astronomy but are still at the beginner level you should consider following the advice of serious amateur astronomers and start with a set of good quality but inexpensive astronomical binoculars before shelling out hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a powerful astronomical telescope.

Celestron SkyMaster Giant 15x70 Binoculars w/Tripod Adapter

Product Description: Celestron's SkyMaster Series of large aperture binoculars are a phenomenal value for high performance binoculars ideal for astronomical viewing or for terrestrial (land) use - especially over long distances. Each SkyMaster model features high quality BAK-4 prisms and multi-coated optics for enhanced contrast. Celestron has designed and engineered the larger SkyMaster models to meet the special demands of extended astronomical or terrestrial viewing sessions.

The 15x70 version is one of the most popular models in the series. It offers serious large aperture light gathering in an affordable and reasonably lightweight configuration. Protective rubber covering for ultra-firm grip Large center focus know for easy focusing Tripod adapter included Long eye relief ideal for eyeglass wearers Carrying case included for travel and safe storage Celestron No Fault Warranty provides best protection and product support on the market.

Optical Design - Porro Diameter - 70 mm (2.76 in) Magnification - 15x Angular Field Of View - 4.4 degrees Linear Field Of View at 1000 YDS - 230.41 ft (70.23 m) Exit Pupil - 4.7 mm (0.19 in) Eye Relief - 18 mm (0.71 in) Near Focus (Binoculars) - 43 ft (13.11 m) Prisms - BAK-4 Optical Coatings - Multi-Coated Carrying Case - Nylon / Strap - Yes / Caps - Yes Water Resistant Tripod Adaptable - Yes Weight 48 oz (1360.78 g)

I have used a set of these binoculars and they are fantastic for both astronomy and for long distance nature viewing. Amazon.com has them for $72.68 (MSRP is $99.99).

A few modest gift ideas

Since my blog birthday comes so close to Christmas I give my followers permission to combine my blog birthday present with my Christmas present. So here are a few gift ideas for anyone wishing to give Lemuel a gift:

Sony KDL-52XBR5 52" BRAVIA® XBR® 1080p LCD HDTV with 120Hz refresh rate

Product Description: 52" widescreen HDTV (16:9 aspect ratio) * high-gloss black finish * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) * built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required) * Motionflow 120Hz anti-blur technology for clearer motion *

This would make a very acceptable gift.

Also this:

Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 Lens

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel camera now has a new, faster, even smaller big brother. Sibling rivalries aside, the 8.0-megapixel Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT SLR adds resolution, speed, extra creative control, and enhanced comfort in the hand to one of the smallest and lightest digital cameras in its class. Even with its advancements in ergonomic design and technology, this easy-to-use EOS digital camera is compatible with all of Canon's EF lenses, including the EF-S lenses.

Then there's this:

Apple 160 GB iPod classic (Black)

With 80GB or 160GB of storage, iPod classic gives your music and video room to move. It also has plenty of energy (up to 40 hours of audio playback), good looks (a sleek, all-metal design), and a great personality (a brand-new interface with Cover Flow). In other words, iPod classic makes an ideal companion.

And then this:

The Glock 37 in .45 G.A.P. is something I've been wanting to play with for some time now. I can't give you a link to order on online, but If you email me I can set up the transfer through a local gun store.

And if you are on a budget this year you might consider this:

Oban is the single malt whisky made near the ancient home of Clan McIntyre. The water used in the production of this scotch is filtered through the bones of my ancestors. Buy it online here.

Welcome to Black Friday

Today is Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. It is the busiest shopping day of the year. Malls and shopping centers will be filled to the bursting point with shoppers out seeking the best deals for their Christmas shopping.

I wish them well, but I won't be joining them. That would mean doing things I don't want to do. Like showering, dressing and burning $3.00 per gallon gasoline to drive into town and then drive back home. And it would mean elbowing my through massive crowds, standing in line at every store, fighting for a parking place less than a mile from the entrance and then walking in the cold wind, coping with traffic and risking a ticket from NC's hyper-vigilant Highway Patrol who have been given astronomically high ticket quotas for the holiday weekend.

No thank you. As a public service I point you toward the Black Friday deals on Amazon.com. I was just over there looking around and they do have some astounding bargains. Go check it out. It is far better to shop in your underwear with a glass of eggnog at your side than it is to face the cold cruel world on one of your precious few days off.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

There are times when a good multi-purpose tool can be a literal lifesaver and not just for mullet headed stars of cheesy TV shows. If you hunt, fish, hike or camp. If you are a truck driver or otherwise spend a lot of time on the road or if you have or work with children (who constantly generate the need for minor repairs) the Gerber Freehand will rapidly become one of those things you wonder how you ever got along without.

Specifications:
Overall Length : 7 "
Closed Length : 5.25"
Weight : 13.6 ounces

Features:
One handed opening plier with V-cut wire cutters
Industrial flat head screwdriver with ruler
fine edge knife blade
fully serrated knife blade
scissors
Phillips head and flathead screwdrivers.

Description: Big and tough. The Gerber Freehand is another great addition to Gerber Blades family of MultiPliers. One handed opening, heavy duty tools which are accessible whether the tool is open or closed. All tools have the Saf-T Plus locking system. Comes with a ballistic nylon sheath. MSRP $130.00

Amazon.com has them for $63.68.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

Today's suggestion is the Ontario Knife Company U.S. Marine Corps Multi-Purpose Bayonet.

You don't have to be a Marine to appreciate a fine edged weapon. This bayonet was specifically designed for the USMC in order to provide the Marines with a more aggressive weapon than the standard issue M-9 bayonet.


Designed for the Marine Corps to serve Marines of the 21st Century! The new official issue Marine Corps bayonet, this 13.25in knife was designed to provide the Marine with a more aggressive fighting implement than the M9. Each knife features the US Marine Corp Eagle, Globe & Anchor symbol and was designed to match the new digital camouflage uniform with all brown sheath, handle & webbing.

The 8" blade is 1.375" wide, and features a 1.75" serration section for extra cutting power on dense materials. Made of Ontario's new proprietary Diamond Steel, it is .200" thick and has a 53-58 Rc Hardness. Each blade is coated in a phosphate non-reflective finish.

The handle is composed of Dynaflex over a full tang, and has been ergonomically designed handle to reduce hand fatigue.

Each bayonet comes with a polyester elastomer scabbard, designed for low noise signature. The scabbard features a fitted internal stainless steel spring friction device at the throat to secure the bayonet when not in use. A ceramic coated aluminum honing rod is located on the back of the scabbard for field sharpening of the blade. Two load bearing attaching straps with cross straps allow for variation of placement on load bearing equipment.

The MSRP is $200.00 but Amazon.com has them for $129.98

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

The Spyderco Civilian is one of the most interesting knives they manufacture:

In the 1990s Spyderco was approached by a specialized branch of U.S. law enforcement about making a knife for their undercover agents. These plain-clothed Law Enforcement Officers found themselves in situations where they often could not carry a firearm but carrying a knife was not a problem. Most had no formal training in self-defense tactics or MBC (Martial Blade Craft) but as a last resort could use a blade to protect or extricate themselves from a life-threatening situation. This was how the Civilian model came to be. The Civilian has a patented reverse "S" blade that's intended to be used like an oversized claw. The tip is ground to an ultra-thin profile. Because of its distinctly specialized features it is not intended or designed for general utility or everyday use. One of the most specialized CLIPITS in the Spyderco line-up, the Civilian is available in limited quantities.

I purchased my Civilian over ten years ago at the Smoky Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville, Tennessee about 10 years ago. I paid something like $256.00 for it. The price has since been reduced to $164.99 (the MSRP is still $257.95) at the Tennessee location, but Amazon.com has the Civilian for $143.69.

If you live in a jurisdiction where Stalinist laws prevent you from carrying a handgun, but still retain enough freedom to possess a folding knife the Civilian is a good choice.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

If you or someone on your Christmas list is a student of history, a collector of edged weapons or just someone who likes to lock the doors, draw the curtains and pretend to be Spartacus a Roman Gladius would be a nice thing to have.

Modern metallurgy and manufacturing techniques allow the production of finer swords today than at any time in history. Whether looking for a component of a high quality Halloween costume, a stage prop, a teaching tool for history class or a really cool wall hanger this sword will not let you down.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

If someone on your Christmas list (some close unless you are rich) is a shooter they have noticed the steep rise in the price of ammunition in recent months. There can be few better gifts for the firearms aficionado than a quality reloading press.

The Dillon XL 650 is one of the finest progressive reloaders on the market. In fact in order to get a better machine you would have to spend more than twice the money for a Dillon for a professional grade Dillon 1050.

The XL 650 is a Mechanically indexed 5 station progressive reloading press with an available motorized case feeder. One pull of the handle will feed a case from the case feed tube, deprime and resize a case, seat a new primer, bell the case mouth and drop a powder charge check the powder charge, seat the bullet, crimp the case and eject a loaded cartridge into the bin.

With the optional case feeder production rates of up to 800 rounds per hour can be sustained.

At a base price of $489.95 the machine can cut the price of handgun ammunition in half and, if you shoot as much as I like to, pay for itself within a year.

HWT Christmas Gift Guide

A good pocket knife is always useful and no pocket knife is as useful as the Swiss Army Knife. The Victorinox Swiss Army Swiss Champ Pocket Knife is not the absolute top of the line Swiss Army Knife, but it has everything you are likely to need and at Amazon's price of $49.35 (MSRP of $86.00) it won't break the bank.

From the manufacturers description:

From the renowned company that created the Swiss Army knife a century ago comes this complete set of tools for campers, hikers, hunters, fishers, and working people of all trades--all neatly contained in a single implement that measures just 3-1/2 inches long. Sheathed in the famous Swiss Army red plastic, the Swiss Champ pocket knife is a toolbox small enough to fit into a pocket. (It also comes with a key ring.) A valued companion, this pocket knife contains 32 stainless-steel tools and carries a lifetime warranty against defects. The tools include a large knife blade, small knife blade, can opener, bottle opener, small screwdriver, large screwdriver, fine screwdriver, Phillips screwdriver, mini screwdriver, corkscrew, wire stripper, reamer, sewing eye, punch, tweezers, plastic toothpick, scissors, hook, wood saw, fish scaler, fish hook disgorger, ruler, nail file, nail cleaner, metal file, metal saw, chisel, pliers, wire cutter, magnifying glass, ballpoint pen, and pin.

Like I said, everything you are likely to use (and maybe then some). I know a lot of women who keep one of these in their purse and a lot of men who keep one in the dash of their car or their range bag or tackle box.